Sunday, February 17, 2013

Young Justice: "Happy New Year" - Aqualad is replaced by a third-rate joke of a character, otherwise I didn't mind the five year jump too much.

Young Justice: "Earthlings" - Ah, Megan has grown up. And not in a good way. And the whole blood transfusion thing is explained, sort of. Why did I enjoy Conner describing Megan's new boyfriend as a jerk so much?

Young Justice: "Alienated" - I wanted Aqualad back, but not like that. Wow. They've just run with his origins, haven't they? Wow. I'm going to have to process this one for awhile. Wow.

This week's movie was The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985) by Will Vinton. To say this is a freaky movie would be a huge understatement. This movie is, at moments, absolutely terrifying. Particularly the Mysterious Stranger piece. But it's a pretty good overall introduction to Twain's work, if you realize that's what you are seeing. It's definitely a tribute to Twain's attitudes about life. I wouldn't recommend it for small children, but older kids would get a kick out of it and might even learn a thing or two.

Here are reviews of the DCBS comic books that I've gotten around to reading and reviewing, sorted by the original shipping date:

Jan 9th

Earth 2 #8 - There's an interesting turn of events for the alternate earth. Wonder what folks will say when they learn about Fury?

World's Finest #8 - Power Girl can be quite nasty when she wants, can't she?

Fortean Times #285 (April 2012). The cover makes it very apparent that this issue is going to tackle the whole "Mayan end of the world" thing, with UFOs! The cover story is actually a series of articles examining the Mayan prophecies from every angle.

The first article examines the ways the world might change and what doomsday prophets have preached. The second article discusses the appropriation of indigenous culture and knowledge by modern people. The third article is about the discovery of the Mayan long count and how it took on significance in the doomsday movement. The final article deals with the various books and artefacts generated by belief in the 2012 doomsday scenario, and the misappropriation of the Aztec Sun Stone to represent the Mayan calendar. Writing this in 2013 I can safely say the doomsday speakers were pretty much all wrong, but it's still an amazing subject to look back on.

Strangedays is the usual collection. The eBay exorcist was good. I enjoyed the parrot stories as well. There was one page that would help me lose weight if I just read it every time I feel like grabbing something to eat *shudder*.

Science was a piece on the American drone supposedly brought down by Iranians. Good analysis of the known facts, but I'm not sure what conclusion can be made from it all. Archaeology has a picture of strange V-shaped carvings found in Jerusalem's old city, a piece on early painting kits and another piece on early bedding. Classical Corner is about conspiracy theories of secret meanings in ancient works. It seems like a mix of numerology and wishful thinking to me.

Ghostwatch covers the story of an unfortunately-named ghost dog that stalks a Royal Air Force base. Konspiracy Korner has a bit on the Robert Kennedy assasination. The UFO Files has a strange piece on a TV personality planting a story about a lucky statue of a dog in a small town's media to see what happens (which is a very Fortean thing to do). The UFO part comes from the fact that the town had UFO sightings, well-before the media stunt, in the area the statue is located.

Blasts from the Past has more flying men from 1880. Fortean Traveller picked up on the 2012 theme by visiting the village of Bugarach in France that some people thought of as a hotspot for 2012 mysteries. Illustrated Police News was about a hermit who was once a postman and his hoard of stolen goods.

The Forum has a piece on the evacuation of the British Museum's treasures during WWII, an article about an artist who preserved a tramp's body and a story about a "sea monster" washed up on a beach. The reviews are great reading, as usual, as are the letters. Whenever I finish rereading a Fortean Times I understand again why I susbscribe in the first place.